


An ode to the humble midday nap

by musterings



Series: Summer Gladnis Week 2019 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hammocks, Kissing, M/M, Napping, Nostalgia, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 16:23:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20230819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musterings/pseuds/musterings
Summary: "My point is Iggy," Gladio continued, "You could learn a thing or two from Noct. There are some merits to a midday nap.""But Noctis and Prompto—" Ignis began, but another yawn interrupted him, one that was intent on not giving him the last word."I'll check up on them if they're not back in half an hour. I’m staying up to read anyway and my phone’s right here, but if something happens, you'll definitely know because I'll have to get you off of me,” Gladio raised his head and met Ignis’s eyes, “So give yourself a bit of break, yeah?”Written for Summer Gladnis Week 2019, Day 2, prompt: relax in a hammock; adjectives: relaxed, mischievous





	An ode to the humble midday nap

In the driver's seat, Ignis would have spent three almost four hours with his long legs folded in the same stiff position poised by the pedals, his arms going through the same memorised motions since they had set out for their hunt first thing in the morning. By the time they pulled up to a haven nestled amongst great spruce trees a fair distance away yet from their mark, the hour hand on his watch ticked just past one.

There was very little time between getting out of the car and reaching the haven until Ignis was setting up his portable stove to get lunch ready while the other three set up their tent. Their mark was most active at night so they had time to kill until then, but it was best to get their supplies in order for their departure, as well as for their sleeping bags to slump into and any extra food to eat for when they return exhausted and hungry. 

By the stove, he was on his feet for about twenty minutes as he prepared a light lunch under the afternoon sun, uncomfortably aware of his entire weight now on the balls of his feet. He flexed the arches of his feet and his toes in shoes that pinched—which he'll never admit when it was an integral component to his image—as he plated each meal. 

In his flimsy folding seat, he could sit back and cross his feet in front of him, but would not lounge, as he was needed back on his feet again to tidy up his cooking equipment after taking less than ten minutes to inhale his lunch. 

To his relief, Prompto and Noctis took to washing, drying and putting away the dishes, and such small mercies allowed his leniency in letting the two boys go for a walk—Prompto had made it one of his life’s missions to capture Duscae’s stone arches from as many angles as he possibly could—until they were to reconvene for their hunt when night fell. 

"Stay close you two," said Ignis, 

"We will," Noctis droned with a wave. 

Ignis glanced around the campsite. They should probably take inventory before their hunt and then he should decide on a meal to have before they depart, making sure to leave extra for later.

"Hey Iggy!" Gladio called out from somewhere behind him, "Could you come over here for a sec?" 

Puzzled as to what the other man could be doing beyond the bounds of the haven, Ignis turned towards the trees, just past where they made camp, where Gladio was fixing the thick straps of a large nylon hammock to the branches of a nearby tree with a sturdy hook. It was cooler under the shade of the foliage overhead, not like how it was in the haven situated in the clearing of the trees, facing out to the afternoon sun.

"Did you need help setting it up?" 

Gladio tilted his head up from where he was examining the hook of his hammock by his chosen tree and smiled, "You could say that."

Ignis came closer, and with a flourish, two strong arms snaked around his waist and pulled him backwards into the hammock, his back flush against Gladio's chest and their legs hanging over the edge. 

"Gladio—!" the hammock swung with every flail Ignis made, and his stomach lurched, 

"You're gonna help me test it out!" said Gladio, unfazed by the hammock's rocking. He kicked his boots off and swung his legs into the hammock, pulling Ignis to lie across it with him. Their weight pulled the hammock down into the middle, rolling Ignis on top of the larger man. 

"Hiya," muttered Gladio with a mischievous smile and a soft peck on Ignis's nose, 

"I hardly think this can support our weight," 

"'Course it will," said Gladio with a chuckle. He folded one arm behind his head, "It's held me and Iris plenty of times."

"Iris is half my size," said Ignis with a groan, "That doesn’t count."

"Don't let her size fool you," said Gladio, "Kid eats so much, she weighs pretty solid."

"I wouldn't let her hear that."

"Don't worry, neither would I." 

"But I must admit," muttered Ignis as the swinging subsided, "This does look heavy duty for a hammock."

"Yeah, we've had it for a while now. Dad used to show me all the best trees for hammocking and we used to take this one camping with us all the time," said Gladio, and he added with a hint of a sidewards smile, "It's built to withstand all kinds of activities."

"Is that so?" asked Ignis flatly. 

"Wanna test it out?" said Gladio, his grin now completely lecherous. 

Unable to prop himself on his elbows on the hammock due to the material's give, Ignis folded his arms on Gladio's chest and leant his chin on them to fix him with a stern glare. Judging by Gladio's smirk, propped up on his lover's chest was the last place Ignis could ever look intimidating. 

"This is hardly the time nor place."

"So if it were later tonight after the hunt then, and a few trees further up?" 

Ignis's glare sharpened. 

"I'm joking, I'm joking," said Gladio. He placed a hand around Ignis’s lower back, "But stay here with me for a while."

"I should get back to preparations for tonight."

"That's not for another few hours," said Gladio, "We have some time to chill." 

He pressed a kiss to Ignis’s temple and swung one knee in idle motions, bringing the hammock to gently sway with him. 

A hand travelled down Ignis’s shoulders and to his lower back, rubbing slow circles just above his hip to the slow rhythm of the hammock's sway. The sun filtered through the trees and onto Gladio's face, and the way his eyes smiled at Ignis made him slump against the warmth of his chest. 

"Let me take my shoes off then," sighed Ignis.

"That's the spirit." 

Ignis kicked his shoes off and leaned off to the the side of the hammock, careful to not fall out of it as he placed them on the ground beneath them. He returned to lie back half on top of Gladio, his hands pressed against his chest, and Gladio wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Much better right?" 

"It’s definitely one of your better ideas," Ignis angled his face up and received a kiss to his lips with feigned reluctance, and Gladio happily deepened it with a smile. 

Gladio’s hand travelled up the back of Ignis’s shirt from where it had pulled out of his waistband from their scuffle in the hammock, gently rubbing at the skin of his back as he allowed himself to lean in and meet his kisses. The swing of Gladio's knee kept the hammock swaying, and he pulled himself up closer to Gladio, pressing between his legs as they kissed. 

"Not the time and place right?" asked Gladio when they broke apart,

Ignis pressed his mouth into a line, "But is it ever?" 

"Good point," said Gladio with a chuckle, and he placed one hand to Ignis's jaw to bring him back in for a kiss, but Ignis pulled away and ducked his head. 

Before Gladio could raise an eyebrow, Ignis covered his mouth with his hand, and released a loud yawn into his palm.

"Excuse me."

"Can't really blame ya," said Gladio, "All that driving can take a lot outta you."

"It's nothing I can't handle," said Ignis, and he shifted back against Gladio’s chest, "Now where were we?" 

"Wherever it was, I think we should park it for a sec. _ You _,” said Gladio, poking Ignis’s forehead with a finger for emphasis, “Are overdue a nap."

"I'm okay Gladio," Ignis frowned, and it deepened further when Gladio laid back on his folded arm and pulled away from his lips with a satisfied smile, "And I still have preparations for later to do and—" he let out another loud yawn and Gladio chortled. 

He scooted as best as he could to one side to make space for Ignis to lie next to him, the sag of the middle of the hammock pulling Ignis to press against his side.

"So you're telling me you were more than willing to put off those _ preparations _ when you thought we were gonna get it on in my hammock?" he asked with a self-satisfied grin,

“I was planning to return to them afterwards,” Ignis scrunched up his face, "Whereas I doubt you’d let me wake soon enough if I napped now." 

"It'll be a quick mid-afternoon nap," Gladio's large hand brought itself to Ignis's back again, but to Ignis’s dismay, he kept it over his shirt, "When you wake up, all the work will be there and I'll be here to help you through it."

Gladio glanced at the lines that creased Ignis's brow in deep thought, like it was the biggest decision Ignis would ever have to make today, and he added, "And the sun'll be more tolerable then."

"Is this something else you learned from your father too?" 

"Nah," Gladio maintained the swing of his knee, his eyes cast up to the leaves of the trees that towered above them, "That one was from Mom."

Ignis laid his head back down on the hammock, embracing Gladio’s torso with one arm as he stroked the middle of his chest, “Ah.”

"Dad always said even with all our servants around, you couldn't make her sit still. But in the summer, she couldn’t stand the heat, so she’d put _ everything _ down and take her afternoon nap until it was a little cooler," Gladio reached around Ignis’s back to stroke at his arm, and his voice lowered into a near whisper, "I can just remember her roping me into ‘em too, but I had way too much energy as a kid." 

"I can imagine," Ignis’s eyes weighed heavy, the sound of Gladio’s voice like a lullaby reverberating through to his ear pressed against one side of his chest.

"Insomnia never even got _ this _ hot,” muttered Gladio against his temple, “But she always said her naps powered her through the summer heat.”

“Do you suppose it was a force of habit from the old country?" asked Ignis. Though he had never met Gladio’s mother, their home was abound of of her portraits, with a smile that crept into her eyes and carried on to her children, and Gladio spoke often about the meals she made from back “home” that Jared could only barely recreate, and songs in a foreign language that his father might manage with sufficient concentration.

“Maybe,” said Gladio, with a wistful smile up into the sky. He continued, "My point is Iggy, you could learn a thing or two from Noct. There are some merits to a midday nap." 

"But Noctis and Prompto—" Ignis began, but another yawn interrupted him, one that was intent on not giving him the last word.

"I'll check up on them if they're not back in half an hour. I’m staying up to read anyway and my phone’s right here, but if something happens, you'll definitely know because I'll have to get you off of me,” Gladio raised his head and met Ignis’s eyes, “So give yourself a bit of break, yeah?”

Ignis pushed himself up again and watched the smattering of sunbeams scattered by leaves, playing across Gladio’s face as he considered his lover's suggestion. 

Suspended off the ground and pressed against Gladio's warm body—not in a flimsy folding seat by the campfire, or in a stiff leather seat in the Regalia, or on his back against the hard ground in his sleeping bag—it was better than any mattress he’d ever lain in back home. Gladio’s hand had returned to his back and recommenced its gentle stroking, and Ignis’s exhaustion that set in long before they made camp finally made itself apparent in his comfort. Free from the confines of his shoes, Ignis’s feet tingled in his socks, and his shoulders and back relaxed and sagged into the hammock, no longer called to attention to maintain his upright posture for hours on end.

In their hammock for two, they swayed along to the breeze that whispered through the trees, the pressure of the weights of their bodies and responsibilities off their feet and off their shoulders, the rhythmic sound of Gladio’s heartbeat from under Ignis’s hand the only indication that time outside their tranquil pocket in the trees had not stood still. 

But when the sun lets up its heat, the hammock must eventually stay its sway, shoes that pinched toes must eventually be reworn, and responsibilities must be recollected to bear on stiff shoulders once more.

Ignis stroked one socked foot against Gladio's.

"You promise you'll wake me?" Ignis finally asked, and he could hear how his voice was already heavy, traitorously giving in to his weariness.

The grin that spread on Gladio’s face was pleased and triumphant, "On my honour as Noct's shield darlin',"

And that was all it took to win Ignis's confidence, for he closed his eyes to let Gladio slide his glasses off his face and hook them to the neck of his own tank top for safekeeping. 

Ignis kept his eyes closed as an arm pulled him closer to nestle against Gladio's rising and falling chest, and it took Ignis one last kiss to his forehead, before he drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to give gladnis the gift of siestas, and what better way to do that than by sprinkling in some hc Mamicitia


End file.
